A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Continuous exclaims of admiration faintly sounded.

Xia Ling had long been accustomed to such admiration. She smiled and sat down with Pei Ziheng and pulled Xia Yu to sit beside her. “We three rarely eat together, I’m really happy.”

Pei Ziheng spread the dining cloth for her affectionately.

Xia Yu spread her own dining cloth and looked at them in jealousy. Her misty eyes swept towards the empty seat beside Pei Ziheng on the other side and her pale lips moved a little, but she still dared not propose a change of seating. Sitting next to Xia Ling, she could feel the various eyes around her fixated on her Sister. She herself was like an invisible person next to her Sister, and she had no sense of existence at all.

She was fed up with this kind of life.

Xia Ling smiled and told her to order, pushing a thick delicate menu to her.

She absent-mindedly scanned the pictures on the menu but could not read half of the words. She kept thinking about what had happened these days—when her heart disease was finally cured and the edema on her face had faded, she restored her health and beautiful appearance. No matter where she went she could hear people complimenting—”That little girl is so beautiful.”

However, once her sister was with her, the nightmare of the past was back.

Nobody paid attention to her anymore, as if the beauty that she was so proud of was just a firefly that collapsed at the first blow. It was just not enough to compete for splendor with the sun and the moon. She… was full of hatred! Why did Xia Ling come to Paris?

She just couldn’t bear to see her live a peaceful life, could she!

She reached out and ordered a few dishes randomly, her heart in a mess.

Xia Ling saw that she was in low spirits and thought she was just sick and her spirits low. She didn’t think too much about it and said to Pei Ziheng, “Brother Pei, let’s eat quickly, Xiao Yu is a little tired already. Let’s eat quickly and hurry back to rest.”

Pei Ziheng said gently, “Okay.”

Xia Yu’s heart thumped loudly as she listened to this—had Xia Ling come here specifically to disrupt things? She finally had the opportunity to eat with Pei Ziheng, but Xia Ling disturbed it with just a few words! It wasn’t enough that she was a lightbulb here, but she was even speeding up the meal! “I…” Xia Yu wanted to say something, but stopped herself and smiled softly. “Sister really cares for me.” What’s the point of protesting now? Brother Ziheng is so obedient to Sister and won’t listen to me at all. I should look for another opportunity to spend time alone with him.

Xia Yu calculated and ate obediently.

Xia Ling smiled and caressed her head. “Eat more and grow taller.”

She herself was sitting on the chair, swaying her calves and happily peeling the lobster.

Pei Ziheng reached out to take it and carefully helped her peel it. “Talk about yourself, you’re so short.”

“I’m still growing!” She refused to admit it and protested quietly.

Pei Ziheng’s eyes were filled with a smile. He put the stripped lobster meat into her bowl. “You’re sixteen, next year you’ll be seventeen. How could you still be growing? Last time I went to the Training Camp to see you and saw that all the other students in your class were taller than you. If this carries on, you won’t even be able to find a perfect partner with little height difference.”

“Humph.” She refused to accept it and bit into the lobster angrily. After a while, she said, “They’re all rushing to partner up with me and are willing to be misplaced. This is my charm, it’s a charm.”

Pei Ziheng smiled warmly and continued to peel her lobster.

“I’ll still grow.” She bit her lobster meat. “I will.”

“You want to grow taller that badly?”

“Because…” She suddenly turned her head and looked up with shiny eyes at him. “Because Brother Pei, you’re very, very tall. If I can match your height and be a perfect match with you on stage, attention will definitely be on us when we go out.”

Tink! Xia Yu’s spoon accidentally touched the edge of the cup.

Pei Ziheng’s eyes darkened. He looked at the girl beside him and did not speak for a while. Did she know what she was talking about? She wanted to be a perfect match with him with a perfect stage height difference, was it just out of a whim, or…

“Sister is joking again,” said Xia Yu. Her expression was a little pale and she said with a forced smile, “The height difference on stage is for the audience to see when on stage. Brother Pei’s not an artiste, he’s a businessman. Sister, how could you use an artiste’s criteria to shape your expectations of Brother Pei? Furthermore, your growth is more or less finalized at sixteen, you won’t be able to become that tall.” Her voice faintly floated in the air.

Xia Ling was a little depressed, but she was more insistent. “I will grow that tall!”

She clenched her fists and looked at Pei Ziheng. “Brother Pei, am I right?”

“Why?” Pei Ziheng asked.

“What?” She blinked.

“Why do you want to have a perfect height difference with me?”

“I like being with you.” Xia Ling smiled from ear to ear without a hint of embarrassment. “Since we have to walk together, then we must use the best look and coordinate our height, don’t you agree?”

Was that all?

Pei Ziheng’s heart was a little empty and steadfast. An emotion even he didn’t understand rose up in him, gently scratching his heart like a feather. Over the years, this kind of feather-like emotions had appeared numerous times. He did not know what it was, which made him a little frustrated.

He lowered his head and continued to peel the lobster for her. He was absent-minded and accidentally cut his hand on the lobster shell.

Xia Ling made a big fuss and called the waiter to get a band-aid and wanted to paste it on him. He silently watched as she clumsily wrapped the band-aid on his finger. The tiny “patch” looked very funny.

“Done.” She was full of accomplishment and clapped her hands. “This way, the wound will get better soon. Brother Pei, don’t peel the lobster for me anymore, I’m full. Let’s eat fruits.”

Her clear voice echoed in the restaurant.

Pei Ziheng looked at her smile under the light and his heartbeat started thumping irregularly.

Xia Yu looked at Pei Ziheng. Her expression became even paler and she became very unhappy.

“What’s so delicious about fruits,” he said, holding Xia Ling’s hand. “Xiao Yu is tired, I’ll let the driver send her back to the hotel, then I’ll take you to an ice cream shop next to the Seine River. The ice cream there is delicious.”

“Wow, really?” Xia Ling loved ice cream the most. Hearing that, her eyes lit up.

Pei Ziheng smiled. “Of course.” After hearing that she was coming, he had long called Chu Chen earlier on to inquire about what was delicious and fun in Paris, especially her favorite playground and ice cream shop, he knew it like the back of his hand.

Xia Yu felt as though a knife was twisting itself in her heart. She remembered that when she had first arrived in Paris, although Pei Ziheng had arranged for his subordinates to take thorough care of her, he hadn’t asked her what she liked to eat, and didn’t take her anywhere either.

This was differential treatment.

“I’m not tired yet…” she said pitifully, hoping to go with them to eat ice cream. At the thought of her Sister being alone with Pei Ziheng, the jealousy in her heart burned so fiercely it could burn people into ashes.